Te Araroa Trail Day 70. Ngaio 1711kms – Wellington city 1721.8kms

Te Araroa Trail into Wellington

Probelm Feet!

Awwww my poor feet! The foot blistering and itchiness is rampant and my feet haven’t even been wet the past few days! I haven’t been able to have my feet “in” bed for the past few nights as they itch sooooo badly! Last night I had to pat them down with cool salt water numerous times during the night to stop the itch. The skin has broken on top of the left foot, which is pretty gross, so I’m trying to keep that bit especially clean in case it gets infected.. yikes!! I’m hoping it’ll clear up when I start walking in sandals for the next few days in Welly.

A Wander into Wellington

I started the day with a delicious breakfast of toasted museli and the last little cake all gifted from my host Tory – magnificent! I set off around 10am for the 10kms mostly road walk into Wellington. Last night’s curry and beer got the better of me (I’m sooo not used to rich food now!) but the less said about that the better. Thank goodness the Wellington suburbs are well serviced with public toilets!

Today, the trail took me into Trelissick Park and then up Weld St – surely Wellington’s steepest street! This led to the Ahumairangi Park (Tinakori hill). I then followed the Northern walkway to the Botanic Gardens. From there it was into the city. I rested for an hour on the lawn outside the Beehive (Parliament) and being in Welly felt like I was home.

I lived in Welly for 3 months a few years ago, and loved it. It’s the coolest little capital on the planet. It’s definitely on my shortlist of places I may live after the trail.

Te Araroa Trail Wellington Waterfront

I did a bit of shopping in Bivouac (2 icebreaker singlets, new carabinas) and went to Dwight’s outdoor store to swap backpack number 2 for backpack number 3. Thankfully #3 is the same size as #1. We noticed a difference on the label, which no doubt explains the differences in size from #2. Anyway.. sorted.

I checked into the YHA backpackers (soul-less, but fine) had a shower and met my roomies. I then went to the Friday night Cuba Street food market to get some amazing dumplings I always used to have when I lived here. My excitement turned to great disappointment – the market wasn’t on!! Possibly because it was so close to Christmas. Instead I had very average dumplings at ‘Dumpling’d’… most definitely not recommended.

An early night turned into a late night, due to the very loud snoring of the girl in the bunk above…